Persimmon Smoothie

I have been on a bit of a quest to create some new smoothies. I have a wide variety, I just wanted to get some creative juices (ha ha) into my routine.  SO the other day when I saw persimmons in the store I got a bit excited. This is not a fruit I am familiar with at all! I did a bit of research to find out about them. High in antioxidants and Vit A, C and K, also high in fiber. They can also be high in tannin acid, which can have some adverse effects if consumed in a high quantity. I had 1 persimmon in my smoothie today, we will see what the effects are!

Persimmon Smoothie
1/2 banana
1 persimmon, peeled and sectioned
1 cup almond milk
1 T flax seed

I kept it pretty simple today, I wanted to get the taste of the new fruit. It was ok, for my taste buds. Not WOW! but ok. I have 2 more persimmons to work with, maybe with some other fruit.

Thankfulness

Good gracious! It has been a LONG time since I have posted! I will blame it on a few things. 1) Summer makes me busy . Lots of time outdoors either for play or work in the garden so I don't sit at the computer as much. 2) Because of the garden, I was blessed with a lot of good food to save for winter. Freezing and canning took up a lot of time for me. However, I love the look of my freezer full of corn, beans, carrots, peas and broccoli all from my garden. My tomatoes this year, wowzer! I have many jars of salsa, pasta sauce, crushed tomatoes and this year I even made my own ketchup and pizza sauce. I love providing such good food for my family! Of course, I already have plans for next years garden and how I am going to expand! 3) This summer was REALLY bad for fruit flies in my house! Therefore, I didn't have a lot of smoothies because the flies really like bananas, and I couldn't leave bananas sit on the counter. Bananas don't do well in the fridge and I know you can freeze them, but I don't like frozen bananas in my smoothies. And excuse number 4) My husband got me a Champion Juicer for my birthday! I have been playing with juicing now as well! Fresh juice can also replace a meal, but I prefer a smoothie for breakfast! I will post some recipes about juice too!

Ok. To the good stuff! November, a month of thankfulness. So many people post a daily thankful item. Love to see it all. I like the quote "Thanks Giving is good, but Thanks Living is better" Matthew Henry. A month of thankfulness is a good reminder, but thankful living every day, something to strive for! Anyway, to honor thankfulness I have been working on my:

 

 Thanksgiving Smoothie!

 

1/2 cup pureed sweet potato

1/2 cup pureed pumpkin

1/2 cup fresh cranberries

1 cup orange juice (or more if needed)

2 T hemp hearts

1 T flax seeds

3 T raw oatmeal

2 T maple syrup

Dash of cinnamon

Dash of pumpkin pie spice

Cranberries are full of antioxidants, fiber, vitamin C and only 45 calories for 1/2 cup serving! Enjoy and be blessed!

Not so green smoothie?

Does a smoothie have to be the color green to consider itself a green smoothie?  Today I have a yummy smoothie that isn't the color green. More brownish red. I think the raspberries have more pigment and over power the green of the greens I put in. And I must say, I put a LARGE handful of the greens. Beet greens today, which also have reddish stems so maybe that is why the color is not green. I CAN taste the beet greens in the smoothie so I know I put enough in there. Did I mention I LOVE going to my garden to get the beet greens! As in, pick, rinse, blend! Nothing fresher and uncertified organic! By the way, it is very yummy!

 

1/2 banana

1/2 cup frozen raspberries

LARGE handful beet greens

1T honey

1T ground flaxseed

1 cup almond milk

 

Blend and enjoy!

Cilantro Lime

So far so good! Green smoothie everyday!  Todays smoothie is a little off the wall, even for me!  I saw the idea on the 30dayGS blog, but I changed it a little due to missing ingredients and only wanting one portion. 

1 banana

large handful fresh spinach

1/2 cup (ish) fresh cilantro

1 peeled lime

3 inch section of cucumber

1/2 tsp ground ginger (the recipe called for fresh but I didn't have any and none in the freezer cubes)

1/2 cup water

5 ice cubes

blend and hmmm? If you don't like cilantro don't do this one! I think I would add a T of honey if I was to do this one again. Little girl didn't like it:) It is very green! Hint of bitter. Overall, not the best, but I will drink it. Definitely not one to offer the hubs:)

Red, White and Beet

In honor of Independence Day I was going to make a red, white and blue (and green!) smoothie! don't have blueberries (oops). I changed directions, raided my garden for greens and came up with this. Happy 4th of July, remember why we celebrate!

Red: 1 cup frozen strawberries

         1/4 cup frozen raspberries

 

White: 1/2 banana

            1/2 cup greek yogurt

 

Beet: large handful of beat greens from the garden!

Water to make it blend-able.

I can taste a slight beet flavor today, but since I don't mind that, yum!

Green Smoothie Day 2

I LOVE this time of year. The garden is starting to produce and I can start throwing some of the goodness into my smoothie.
Todays was super yummy and definitely a summer drink.

1/2 banana

1/4 cup coconut milk (from a can)

handful of kale

1 cup diced watermelon

1 sprig of mint leaves

handful frozen strawberries

Blend. Looks funky, kinda brownish green, but tastes yummy!

Challenge

Finally! A healthy challenge that I think I can accomplish with minimal effort! A friend of mine tuned me into the 30 day Green Smoothie challenge! I signed up, and therefore will have 30 days of green in my future. It starts today, July 1, and I signed up today. Therefore I didn't get the recipe for today, but I made my own. My daughter is currently sitting beside me and sucking my smoothie down, little does she know how good it is for her! Then again, she isn't 2 yet! Still, providing great nutrition for her.

 

1/2 banana

large handful Kale

1/2 c greek yogurt

12 segments frozen mandarin oranges

 3/4 c frozen strawberries

1 c water

1 T ground flaxseed

1 T wheat germ

1 T honey

Blend! Yes, I can taste the kale it this one, Kale has a stronger flavor than spinach. It isn't bad and I am starting the month of right. By the way, HAPPY CANADA DAY!